by Beam, Brian
The creature, unfazed by the loss of its arm, swung its only intact arm towards me with a sick growl, its bony fingers like claws. I leaned away from its reach and swiped my sword towards its neck. With the softness of the undead’s rotting flesh and the brittleness of its bones, my sword sliced cleanly through its neck, its gruesome head rolling off to the side. Its body took a few rigid steps backwards before dropping.
When I turned to the scene behind me, my heart fell into my stomach. While the undead appeared to all be out of the fight, we now had much bigger problems on our hands. Kait’, Briscott, Oslen, and I were all that remained of our group, and Oslen was not going to be with us much longer. I know that last part sounds a bit fatalistic, but a ten-foot-tall eldrhim had Oslen clamped in the massive jaws of its elongated snout, its serrated teeth piercing through his torso. Its scaly, green reptilian body stood on two hairy, bear-like legs. Six arms—three on each side of its body—were each as big around as tree trunks. Its reptilian eyes glowed a bright yellow as if they were tiny suns on its face.
Several arrows were embedded in the reptilian, bear-legged eldrhim’s body. No less than six other swords—some with the arms of the undead still attached to them—were stabbed through the eldrhim’s body. Kait’ was likely responsible for those swords. Black, corrosive eldrhim blood leaked from its wounds. Still, the creature stood and fought, which is why Kait’ had called for me.
And then there was the second eldrhim, currently in the process of standing from Ullian’s still form. This eldrhim wasn’t comparable to any creature I’d ever seen before. First of all, it hadn’t so much stood from the Ullian’s body as transitioned from an amorphous gel-like mass into a humanoid shape. Glowing red eyes were the only feature on its smooth, spherical face. Moonlight shimmered across its yellow, semi-translucent, gelatinous body. I tried not to think about what the fleshy chunks visible through its pellucid stomach were.
Oslen’s frantic screams filled the air as the lizardish eldrhim shook its head back and forth, its terrible teeth tearing through his insides. The eldrhim’s jaw clamped tighter, Oslen’s bones audibly breaking. With another violent shake of the eldrhim’s head, Oslen’s lifeless body was flung a dozen paces away to the ground.
I didn’t need an order from Kait’ to set after the eldrhims. The atrocious creatures, supposedly the minions of Rizear, the god of death, had to be stopped. They’d nearly killed my friends and me in the past. One had killed Bhaliel. The two before me had already killed Oslen and Ullian, and they wouldn’t stop until there was no one left to kill. Their very existence enraged me. With a fury-filled cry, I lifted my sword in preparation to charge.
“Korin!” a shrill voice called from behind me. I knew the voice all too well. I should’ve been elated to hear it. At the moment, however, I cursed its timing as my body involuntarily turned away from the eldrhims.
“Korin, what are you doing?” Kait’ screamed breathlessly. “I order you to kill these monsters!”
As much as I would’ve loved to oblige Kait’s command, I had other orders that superseded hers. Per Jefren, I was to detain the Kolarin who stood before me.
Til’ ran up and threw his arms around me. “Korin, I’m so glad you’re okay. We came to save you. I didn’t know what was going on when we saw the commotion here. We were waiting for the right time to come and get you. Now let’s kill these eldrhims and—” His typical breathless train of thought choked off as I snatched the dagger out of his hand, tossed it to the side, and tightly grabbed his arm. “Korin, what are you doing?”
“I’m so sorry, Til’,” I said. “I can’t control myself.”
Til’s silver eyes took on a look of panic, and he jerked his head back to look behind him. “You’re not supposed to still be under their control. Oh, Bill, where are you?”
“Bill?” I questioned, not understanding what he could have to do with anything.
“Dammit, Korin, this thing’s about to kill me,” Kait’s voice called.
Suddenly, my legs started walking towards Kait’. I was unable to release Til’s arm, so he was pulled along with me. Jefren had ordered me to detain Til’, but he’d also ordered me to protect Kait’. There appeared to be a fallacy in the working of the rocks; I was forced to comply with both orders at once.
With my eyes once again facing the battle, I saw Briscott hacking at the gelatinous eldrhim, his bow discarded for a sword. The sword uselessly passed through the creature with each swing. The tears in its body sealed up immediately in the wake of Briscott’s blade. The eldrhim’s arms shot out to its sides, elongating as they curved around Briscott’s back and melded together behind him.
“Briscott, drop!” I yelled, unable to do anything but continue forward towards Kait’. Briscott didn’t question and dropped flat to the ground. The eldrhim’s arms passed not a finger’s length over his head. Briscott jumped back to his feet and resumed his attack.
Meanwhile, Kait’s focus was solely on the lizardish eldrhim. Two swords repeatedly stabbed in and out of its body, first drawn towards the metal sphere in her hand and then thrust forward using the other embedded swords to attract them. Her attack did little to slow it, however. Its body twisted to reach for her with three of its arms, revealing a long, reptilian tail swinging behind it. Kait’ danced around the bear-legged, lizardish eldrhim’s advances and continued to work at it with the swords. Actually seeing her in danger drove me into a run, dragging Til’ behind me.
“Ow! Korin, what are you doing?” Til’ yelped, stumbling.
I didn’t get a chance to answer. Suddenly, my legs gave out from under me. I released Til’s arm and my sword, dropping to my knees. I pressed my hands against the sides of my head as pain exploded behind my eyes, a pain worse than anything the rock had caused before. The world went white and all strength left my muscles. Ice pumped through my veins one second, replaced by boiling water the next. My screams were hollow echoes in my ears. For that brief moment in time, I wondered if I was experiencing what death felt like. But then it was over.
There was no longer any pain in my head. My chest still burned like fire, my stitched shoulder still throbbed, and nearly all of my muscles ached from fighting, but no more daggers stabbed into my brain.
I dropped my hands to my sides. Kait’ was continuing her attack on the eldrhim before her, drawing swords out of its body and thrusting them right back in. The eldrhim still fought back despite its butchered mess of a torso. Kait’ looked exhausted, and I couldn’t imagine her having many leeches left to draw magic from, if any. Even witnessing her plight, my body made no move to help. Energy coursed through me as the implications set in. I was free.
Briscott’s scream ripped my attention from my renewed freedom. He’d also fallen to the ground. The gelatinous eldrhim had stretched out like a ship’s sail, descending to envelope Briscott’s downed body, the way it had done to Ullian moments before. I had to save him.
I retrieved my sword from the ground and stood. “Til’, I’m okay now. Let’s kill these Rizear-blooded bastards.”
“Already ahead of you,” Til’ called as he ran past fearlessly, dagger back in hand.
I followed, charging after the gelatinous eldrhim without a hint of a plan. I just knew that I wanted the thing off of Briscott before his body parts joined Ullian’s in its jelly-like torso. Before I could close the distance, Briscott tore through the creature with a roar, his arms raised, a sword in one hand and a dagger in the other. Gelatinous blobs splashed outwards with the sound of spoiled fruit smashed underfoot. Briscott’s entire body was slimed with the viscid substance. Briscott jumped back as it began to reform into its humanoid shape.
Briscott’s eyes met mine as I raced towards him. “Don’t worry about me. This one’s mine,” he growled. “Take the other blighted creature down.”
Though I cared more about Briscott’s survival than Kait’s—chivalry be damned—I respected Briscott’s wishes and turned to the screeching lizardish eldrhim to my left. Til’ was already attacking
it, ducking under its tail and slashing at its legs as if completely unconcerned that the monster was more than twice his height. Kait’ looked ragged and unsteady on her feet. With Briscott keeping the other eldrhim at bay, my place was with the six-armed, scaly monster. And strangely enough, I had a plan for once. A good plan, even. Well, maybe.
“Kait’!” I screamed, charging the eldrhim. “On my word, draw every weapon stuck in the eldrhim towards my sword.”
There was no time to check if Kait’ had heard me as I rushed forward. I leapt onto the eldrhim’s tree trunk of a tail, stabbing my sword into it. When I wrapped my other arm around the tail, my hand came in contact with fur which apparently covered its underside. I dug my fingers into the oily fur, holding on for dear life. The eldrhim violently lashed its tail, but I held tight and pulled my entire body onto it, lying flat against the scales.
Til’ had to duck as the tail whipped towards him. My legs swung off the side, threatening to take my body with them. My arm muscles straining, I pulled my legs back onto the eldrhim’s tail, pressing my feet against the scales to bring myself up into a crouch. With a silent prayer to Vesteir, I yanked my sword from its flesh and kicked upwards as hard as I could, leaping from its tail and stabbing my sword into the middle of its back.
The eldrhim let out a two-toned screech and started spinning wildly, flailing its six arms to grab at me. None of its clawed hands could reach me. I struggled to maintain the one-handed grip on my sword as the eldrhim spun, my body swinging painfully against its back. My right shoulder burned with pain, all of my weight pulling down on it. Still—believe it or not—my plan was going just as I’d hoped.
I looked down at Til’ as he courageously slashed at the eldrhim. “Can’t you do any better, eldrhim? Come on,” he taunted. If not for the fear that I could die any moment, I would’ve laughed.
The next phase of my plan was going to be a little trickier. Pressing my feet against the eldrhim’s back for leverage, I brought up my other hand to grab my sword’s hilt. From there, I stepped up its back, its rough, scaly hide giving me plenty of traction. I extended a leg to the side, planting it on what would’ve been the shoulder of one of its lower arms.
Releasing my sword with one hand, I reached up to grab the eldrhim’s middle arm. I then withdrew my sword, eldrhim blood splashing onto my armor, and proceeded to climb atop the eldrhim’s topmost arm using its lower arms like a ladder. This was no easy task with the eldrhim flailing its limbs as it tried to grab at both me and Kait’ while simultaneously lashing its tail at Til’. Still, I succeeded in pulling myself onto its shoulder. Grabbing an arrow imbedded in its skull to stabilize myself, I stabbed my sword through the top of its head.
The eldrhim let out another piercing screech and reached for my sword with its upper arms. I twisted away from its claws and leapt to the ground. Letting my legs buckle, I tucked into a roll to keep from causing myself too much damage. After coming to a halt, I turned towards Kait’.
“Now, Kait’!” I screamed, hoping she could hear me over the eldrhim’s pain-filled roar. Suddenly, the swords and arrows in the eldrhim’s body tore inward through its scaly skin. The eldrhim staggered back, screeching in pain as the weapons tore through its insides and made their way to my sword. The eldrhim’s massive body dropped to the ground and went still.
Once I made it to my feet, Kait’ was there beside me, her eyes burning with anger. Til’ pulled up to my other side, and we all turned to Briscott’s battle with the gelatinous eldrhim. “What do we do now?” Til’ asked.
There was no way I was going to leave Briscott to battle the gelatinous eldrhim alone. “I have no idea,” I admitted. “I guess we’ll find out. Let’s go.”
I tugged my sword from the lizardish eldrhim’s head and sprinted to Briscott’s side, joining him in hacking away at the gelatinous eldrhim. I ducked under a swipe of its arm and slashed at its leg. My sword passed through, but the gel-like substance just reformed as if it had never been touched. The eldrhim gave off a low-pitched, undulating screech, though it had no mouth that I could see. Pieces of Ullian still floated beneath the surface of its yellow body.
“Care for some help now?” I asked, slicing at the gel-like eldrhim.
“We’re never going to stop it like this,” Briscott wheezed, exhausted.
Nothing came to mind about how to take down the creature. I’d never faced an eldrhim that wasn’t flesh and blood. On the positive side, the gelatinous eldrhim didn’t seem to have the corrosive ink-black blood of a normal eldrhim. On the negative, it seemed invulnerable and was likely to wear us down until we were too weak to fight back. All we could do was continue our futile attack just to keep it from killing us until a better plan could be devised.
Til’ and Kait’ hadn’t joined the fight. A small part of me worried that Kait’ had simply abducted Til’ and escaped, leaving Briscott and me to the gelatinous eldrhim as she made away with a means of financing the formation of an army. The bigger part of me was purely concentrated on surviving as I ducked and twisted away from the eldrhim’s attacks.
“Any ideas?” I asked, slashing through the eldrhim’s arm. The arm healed immediately as my sword passed through, preventing me from actually severing it.
Before Briscott could answer, the eldrhim’s arms retracted into its body and then shot back out towards the two of us as quickly as lightning. The gelatinous substance enveloped our swords before jerking back, tearing them from our hands and flinging them out into the night. The eldrhim started to morph, its body stretching out in all directions until it towered over us.
“Okay, here’s where we run,” I yelled, tugging Briscott’s arm. We turned and started running, but the eldrhim began to fall forward, its body too big for us to outrun.
And then I saw something massive soaring through the air in my periphery. It slammed into the eldrhim, causing it to explode in a shower of tiny gel-like blobs that fell over Briscott and me like rain. Whatever had hit the eldrhim landed with a loud crash, rolling noisily with the sound of splintering wood across the clearing. Moonlight glinted off of the globs of gelatin spread across the area around us. There were no signs of movement among them. The fight was over.
I started shaking the gelatinous clumps of eldrhim off of me, though they didn’t seem to pose any threat. I hadn’t seen an eldrhim that didn’t bleed corrosive blood before, so I had no intentions of taking any chances.
“What in Loranis’s name . . .?” Briscott trailed off, his eyes drifting to where we’d heard the crash. What was left of Jefren’s cart was tilted against a nearby tree. Splintered pieces of the siding and the wheels were scattered across the ground between us and the ruined cart. “You okay, Korin?”
“Just peachy,” I replied, breathing heavily as I tried to wrap my head around how the cart had been propelled into the eldrhim. Kait’ had obviously done it, but I couldn’t imagine how much it must’ve taken out of her. Still, she’d ended the fight. For the moment, we were safe.
Til’ was suddenly at my side. “Korin, are you okay?” He didn’t pause to let me answer. “Kaitlyne told me to unhitch the horses and then had me throw a piece of metal behind the eldrhim. Did you see what she did? I still don’t trust her, but it was amazing! Hey, who’s this guy?”
As good as it felt to have Til’ back and chattering away as usual, I had more pressing matters to consider. “Til’, Briscott and I need to get these rocks out of our chests and get away from here before more eldrhims are sent after us.” I looked to Briscott. “Do you think we can get them out safely?”
“I’m not completely sure. I—” Briscott was cut off as his body jerked forward. He fell to the ground with a grunt. Til’ followed next. I felt a sharp pull at my belt buckle and realized that we were all being drawn to something metal by Kait’s magic. I struggled against the pull, but Kait’s magic was too strong, and I was thrown down across Til’ and Briscott.
Kait’ stepped forward, standing over us. “Don’t think this means you’re free,” s
he hissed, her body wavering with exhaustion. She pulled one of the green rocks from inside her cloak, its surface dull. Apparently , they only glowed once activated by the blood of two parties.
Kait’ lifted her sleeve. All of the leeches had fallen from her arm, probably dead from her excessive use of magic during the fight. She wiped the pointed end of the rock through the blood smeared across her forearm..
“Kait’, you can’t be serious,” I said, fumbling to get my belt off. With the strength of the force pulling on my belt buckle, I could barely get my hands underneath me, let alone achieve the leverage I needed to undo my belt. “We have to leave these rocks behind. We’ll just be hunted down by more of those creatures otherwise.”
“Listen to him, Kaitlyne,” Briscott agreed. “It’s over.”
“Not until I say it’s over,” Kait’ growled, crouching over Til’ as he struggled to get away. “They took everything from me, and I will not rest until they’re all dead.” Kait’s eyes were wild, no trace of sanity left in them.
Kait’ tugged at Til’s shirt with one hand, exposing his pale, hairless chest. Til’ stared pure fury at her, but couldn’t move from his position on the ground. Kait’ raised her other arm into the air, ready to drive the rock down into Til’s sternum by hand. She took a deep breath, readying to drop her arm.
Suddenly, Bill was behind Kait’, his sword positioned across the front of her throat. With the campfire dwindled to almost nothing, only Bill’s eyes and the top of his bald head were visible in the moonlight, the tattooed portion of his face blending into the darkness.
“I would not do that if I were you,” Bill growled in his rough bass.
Kait’ released Til’s shirt and relaxed her arm as if surrendering. I knew better. “Bill, watch out, she’s a sorceress!”
Even as the words left my mouth, Bill’s sword ripped from his hand. Before Kait’ could do anything else, though, another blade shot through her chest from behind. Blood streaked down the blade and dripped from its edge.
